Editing FANGS: Appendix A - Equipment (section)

==Variable Armor==

In real life, armor was frequently not uniform
all over the wearer’s body. Mercenaries and troops gathered to be cannon fodder
were often lucky to have a cuirass on their torso and a helmet. Armor is also
fatiguing and hot, particularly in close quarters with no air circulation.
Roman soldiers of the later periods could often be tracked by the discarded
pieces of armor they left behind.

Rather than track what piece of armor is on
what part of the body, players can adjust for this method of armor wearing by
using a randomizing element. Determine the minimum protection a character is
wearing, such as 2 points for tough leather, and add a die roll to see what
thickness of armor is covering the leather at any point a character is hit.

Example: Gru is uncomfortable with armor on
his arms and legs, and decides that he has no armor there at all. Elsewhere he
may be wearing anything from simple clothes (1 point) to some ring armor (4
points). The character’s armor roll is 1d6-1. If a blow lands there might be as
much as 5 points of protection (6-1) because some clothing is under the
ringmail. Or there might be no protection at all (1-1).

Saul, who has a greater regard for the
integrity of his skin, has a leather hauberk covering almost all of him, and
some heavy chain (or equivalent) protecting the particularly vital spots. His
roll is 1d4 2, giving a range from 3 (the heavy leather) to 6 (the chain
hauberk).

The cost of variable armor like this is half
that given in the price list for a complete set of armor. If combining sets
like Saul in the above sample, both the leather hauberk and the chain mail are
half price (a leather hauberk is actually part of the chain mail, so there is
no add to damage protection for having one over the other – it would be there
regardless.).